Ind - Independent teams; T25 Games - Games played between teams that finished the year ranked in the final AP top-25 poll; T25 Conf CG - Conference championship games played between final AP top-25 teams. Though these games are scheduled before the season, the participants are not known until the end of the regular season; T25 Conf - Conference games between final AP top-25 teams; T25 Non Conf - Non-conference regular season games between AP top-25 teams, including independents.

Provided as a supplement to the 1989 vs. 2009 connectivity infographic posted earlier this week, this table more fully demonstrates the decline in frequency of games between top teams over the last 20 years. The Big East football conference formed in 1991. The SEC expanded to 12 teams in 1992. Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993. The Big 12 expanded to 12 teams in 1996. The ACC expanded to 12 teams in 2005.

About

Brian Fremeau is a college football writer, stats analyst, and data visualization designer. His work can be found on FootballOutsiders.com and ESPN Insider, as well in the annual Football Outsiders Almanac and various Maple Street Press college football publications.

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Ratings and Stats Glossary

Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI)College football rating system based on drive-based Game Efficiency data that rewards playing well against good teams, win or lose, and punishes losing to poor teams more harshly than it rewards defeating poor teams.

Game Efficiency
Measurement of the success rate of a team scoring and preventing opponent scoring during the Competitive Possessions of a game.

Competitive Possession
A non-garbage-time possession in a game, calculated as a function of the score margin and remaining game possessions.